Gondolas from Brackenridge Park's sky ride are seen Wednesday May 4, 2011 in advace of an auction of the Brackenrigde icons and other items from Playland Park Friday May 6, 2011. (William Luther/wluther@express-news.net)

Fresh from turning the dirt on a housing development at San Antonio College, Alamo Colleges administrators have resurrected a controversial idea to consolidate the district's administrative facilities, which are spread across the city, into a new central site at the former Playland Park location off of Broadway.

Faculty and others balked at the idea of an administrative and mixed-use complex in 2008 when it carried a $116 million price tag. But during a board retreat Nov. 17, administrators discussed the district pitching in on just the land and finding a private partner to finance the remainder.

The arrangement would be much like the district's partnership with NRP Group LLC to develop a $30 million student housing and commercial project, called the Tobin Lofts at San Antonio College, for which they formally broke ground in late October.

In mid-December, the board may vote on issuing a request for qualifications for a developer/architect to join them in their second public-private partnership, this one to develop the approximately 12.5-acre Playland Park site at 2222 N. Alamo St., which the district bought in 2008, said John Strybos, associate vice chancellor of facilities.

Though the site now is used as overflow parking for SAC, he said future designs could include housing and commercial space as well.

“What the Alamo Colleges needs is 200,000 gross square feet of office space, including conference space,” Strybos said. “And what it's going to look like is going to be a lot up the developer.”

About 450 employees now work out of three district administration buildings, which can be a 30-minute drive apart, he said. One is on West Sheridan Street in the King William Historic District, one on West Houston Street, north of the University of Texas at San Antonio's downtown campus, and another on Pat Booker Road in Live Oak.

“We don't have enough space for all the people we have,” he said.

The Alamo Colleges isn't the only system rethinking its administrative facilities. The University of Texas System is also planning a new administrative structure in downtown Austin.

In mid-November, UT regents approved a plan to move from five buildings to an office building it will construct for an estimated $102 million along Austin's 7th Street, according to a UT news release.

The system called the five buildings it currently uses “antiquated” and estimated that moving will save between $60 million and $240 million over 30 years through decreased maintenance and leasing older buildings.

In addition to the Alamo Colleges' administrative building, construction could include space for a UPS Store, a book store, a café, a dry cleaner, clothing shops, a beauty salon, additional office space and student or other housing — depending on developer proposals, Strybos said.

Board Chairman James Rindfuss said he believes it would be more efficient to consolidate administrative operations into a single building, but the district doesn't know what other components might fit alongside an administrative building and whether it will find interested private partners.

Rindfuss said if the board does not think any partnership proposals fit the best interests of the district, they still have the option of “putting it as part of a future bond project” or exploring a joint venture with the city and Fort Sam Houston.

Trustee Joe Alderete, Jr., said he doesn't have a problem with the idea as long as it doesn't cost taxpayers anything beyond the land for the facility.

“We just had a tax rate increase. We just had a tuition increase,” he said. “Anything that smells like we're using that tax rate increase and that tuition rate increase to underwrite this building, in my opinion, is wrong.”

Dawn Elmore-McCrary, immediate past chair of both the SAC faculty senate and Alamo Colleges' Super Senate, said that, when the Playland Park idea was discussed previously, faculty were blindsided because it included academic programs. Strybos said that is no longer part of the concept.

Faculty were also displeased that they had been asked to do more with less while the district considered coughing up money for a building that may have drawn funds from college projects.

But she said the faculty is excited about the SAC development, for which Alamo College contributed the land.

“It will be interesting to see what comes of” the Playland Park discussion, Elmore-McCrary said. “It would probably be more efficient if (administrators) were in the same place and they're able to work together.”